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I worked out that to have a collection of albums of about 10,000 amassed by and large, since I sold my first collection in 1989, I must have bought around 285 records per year or five or six per week. Which, now that I think about it, is remarkable dedication to the cause over a long time, not the sort of thing you undertake without real passion.
Obviously some weeks I don’t buy any and some weeks I buy loads. I think my record is 78. You have to be prepared to take advantage of any situation. I learned this early on when I was at a car boot in the early 90s when I came across someone selling their collection of hippy albums. Everything you could want, from ~Jade Warrior on Vertigo swirl to a lavender coloured Led Zeppelin 4. And it caught me without much money on me and I was several miles from a cashpoint. Consequently, I could only buy a few items. I left behind so many great records which were only £3.00. I still feel annoyed by it and swore at the time that I wouldn’t get caught out again. So I always make sure I go with plenty of money. To this day, it has only happened once that having a good wedge with me has been worthwhile, when I was at a car boot in an underground car park.
In the gloom, I happened upon a man who was selling records from the back of his car. He’d had a record shop which had closed down and he was selling his stock for a pound each. It was at the height of vinyl’s unpopularity and no one was interested. But I was. I bought 78. I was down to the Leo Kottke albums. In my mind, they were only £1.00 from being free. He was delighted to sell so many. This was in 2005. I’d been carrying around a wedge of cash for 16 years and it finally paid off.
That was a highlight, another was at another car boot at Stalham in Norfolk where I came across a stall on which was one record. The Kinks debut album, worth perhaps £150 or more. They must have been aware of its value because it was priced at 10 pounds, which is a small fortune at a car boot and it would have been a pound otherwise. Of course, I was happy to pay a tenner for it.
That thrill of coming across a record you want at a car boot is like nothing else. The excitement never gets old and hasn’t diminished one iota down the decades. Now that vinyl is back in fashion, the thrill of cheap records is a thing of the past.
Obviously some weeks I don’t buy any and some weeks I buy loads. I think my record is 78. You have to be prepared to take advantage of any situation. I learned this early on when I was at a car boot in the early 90s when I came across someone selling their collection of hippy albums. Everything you could want, from ~Jade Warrior on Vertigo swirl to a lavender coloured Led Zeppelin 4. And it caught me without much money on me and I was several miles from a cashpoint. Consequently, I could only buy a few items. I left behind so many great records which were only £3.00. I still feel annoyed by it and swore at the time that I wouldn’t get caught out again. So I always make sure I go with plenty of money. To this day, it has only happened once that having a good wedge with me has been worthwhile, when I was at a car boot in an underground car park.
In the gloom, I happened upon a man who was selling records from the back of his car. He’d had a record shop which had closed down and he was selling his stock for a pound each. It was at the height of vinyl’s unpopularity and no one was interested. But I was. I bought 78. I was down to the Leo Kottke albums. In my mind, they were only £1.00 from being free. He was delighted to sell so many. This was in 2005. I’d been carrying around a wedge of cash for 16 years and it finally paid off.
That was a highlight, another was at another car boot at Stalham in Norfolk where I came across a stall on which was one record. The Kinks debut album, worth perhaps £150 or more. They must have been aware of its value because it was priced at 10 pounds, which is a small fortune at a car boot and it would have been a pound otherwise. Of course, I was happy to pay a tenner for it.
That thrill of coming across a record you want at a car boot is like nothing else. The excitement never gets old and hasn’t diminished one iota down the decades. Now that vinyl is back in fashion, the thrill of cheap records is a thing of the past.
